THE CELERITAS FILES

Chapter 11/ 28

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Bliksem Corporate Office, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi, India

"Come on, Shaina. You have to come with us tonight," said Nandini insistently.

It was lunchtime and all four of them: Nandini, Ravi, Shaina, and Amaan were seated in the conference room of Bliksem's office, deciding on their plans for the Christmas eve.

"Ravi has already made bookings for all of us at Warehouse Café in the Hauz Khas Village," Nandini continued. "You HAVE TO COME."

"Nandini, I have told you and Ravi a zillion times that I CAN'T leave Rajiv alone at home and come for your parties," said Shaina, "He is still just five years old. And I know you are going to force me even for New Year's Eve and I want to say no to that in advance."

"Okay; let's talk about tonight first and not about New Years' Eve," said Ravi, "It is Christmas eve and it is going to be relatively less crowded and wild as compared to New Year's eve. And to solve the Rajiv problem, you should bring him along with us."

"Yes absolutely. Because teaching my son about the benefits of drinking and smoking sheesha is totally what responsible mothers are expected to do," Shaina snapped sarcastically.

Both Nandini and Ravi laughed.

"Okay I promise that we won't smoke sheesha and we won't get sloshed," said Ravi, with a smile on his face. "I swear we won't.

"Let it be, Ravi," said Shaina, waving her hand dismissively. "I don't want Rajiv and me to become the reason for you to have a boring Christmas eve."

"No, not at all," said Nandini, "I promise too that we won't drink too much and we won't order sheesha. We can even sit at a corner table that is reasonably far from the dance floor and all the action."

She turned to Amaan who was quietly eating his food.

"Hey, Amaan, why don't you also tell her?"

Amaan raised his head and looked at her as if he hadn't heard the conversation. He paused for a moment and then turned towards Shaina.

"I would love to meet your son," he said softly, "He seemed really sweet from the pictures you showed me."

For a moment, Shaina stared at him, not knowing how to respond. The statement made by him sounded extremely genuine and it did not seem like he was saying it to force her to come. He had mentioned in the past that he really loved kids, which had made her ponder over his thinking. She had concluded that the emptiness in Amaan's life was not just because of the loss of his wife but also because he felt he could never have children and would be alone for life. She felt immense amount sympathy for him and his loss.

"O-okay," she replied slowly, "I guess we can all go out together."

She gave a broad smile to Amaan and he returned it almost instantly. Then she turned towards Ravi and Nandini.

"But you have to live up to your three promises: No sheesha, corner table and no getting sloshed," she said firmly.

"Heil Hitler!" came the response from both of them, in unison, making Shaina burst into laughter.

Suddenly, the door of the conference room creaked opened and Rishabh's face peeked in through the door.

"Sorry to be interrupting on your party plans guys," he said sarcastically, "but there is a bunch of due diligence guys waiting outside looking for the R&D team."

He banged the door shut and left before anybody could respond.

"It almost seemed like he was eavesdropping on us, didn't it?" said Ravi.